About Gildform
Gildform is a Detroit-based, on-demand platform and manufacturer that turns product ideas into reality—across jewelry, fashion hardware, collectibles, and small home décor. We combine AI-powered design support, precision manufacturing, end-to-end fulfillment, and personalized growth insights in one place. We work with top global entertainment brands, major fashion houses, and national retailers.
About the Role
We’re looking for a Head of Manufacturing & Supply Chain to lead Gildform’s factory operations and build our distributed manufacturing network. This is a senior, hands-on leadership role focused on driving throughput, quality, and efficiency—while scaling the systems, partners, and workforce that power custom, on-demand production.
You’ll lead our Detroit-based manufacturing facility and oversee internal production, equipment, raw materials, and team performance. You’ll also grow and certify new manufacturing partners, manage sourcing and procurement, and work with local workforce organizations to develop artisan and technician talent pipelines.
Your mission: ensure we can consistently deliver high-quality products—at scale, on time, and with excellence.
What You'll Own
- Production Leadership: Lead day-to-day operations in Gildform’s manufacturing facility; oversee casting, finishing, assembly, and fulfillment with a focus on quality and efficiency.
- Team Management: Implement growth plans, hire, train, and coach a 5–30 person production team + on-demand labor pool across shifts; create a culture of ownership, accountability, and continuous improvement while manage direct reports.
- Capacity Planning & Throughput Optimization: Develop systems to increase output, manage labor, and hit manufacturing capacity targets across in-house and partner sites.
- Lean, Six Sigma & QRM Execution: Apply best practices to reduce cycle time, improve quality, and scale repeatable manufacturing for made-to-order and batch runs.
- Supply Chain Oversight: Own sourcing, procurement, and inventory of metals, packaging, and production components; manage vendor relationships and raw material flow.
- ERP/MES Stewardship: Maintain accurate production data, ensure equipment/task-level visibility in Gildform’s MES; surface reports that drive decisions.
- Equipment Management: Oversee use, maintenance, and optimization of 3D printing, casting, polishing, plating, robotics and finishing equipment; propose improvements or upgrades.
- Partner Network Growth: Onboard and certify manufacturers; build quality systems, performance metrics, and communication flows across distributed partners.
- Workforce Development: Collaborate with local workforce orgs to build recruiting and training pipelines for production talent (artisans, polishers, operators).
- Cross-Functional Coordination: Partner with tech, design, customer success, finance and sales teams to ensure timelines, specifications, and capacity plans align.
Signals You're the Right Fit
- You’ve run a factory or floor and know how to hit throughput targets without compromising quality.
- You think in systems and flows—tracking bottlenecks, lead times, labor utilization, and material movement.
- You’ve owned production + supply chain before, and know what breaks at scale.
- You can lead from the floor and the dashboard—hands-on with tools, but data-driven in decisions.
- You bring a builder mindset: implementing SOPs, dashboards, training paths, and scalable workflows.
- You’re comfortable working across in-house teams and external partners to hit SLAs and production goals.
- You’re aligned with our values: creator-centered, excellence-driven, improvement-obsessed, and rooted in integrity.
Requirements
- 2+ years of experience in manufacturing operations or production leadership
- Proven experience with lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, or QRM
- Experience managing supply chain or procurement alongside production
- Strong people leadership: hiring, training, scheduling, and team accountability
- Familiar with MES/ERP systems, dashboards, and production tracking
- Comfortable with technical production environments (casting, assembly, post-processing)
- Bonus: Background in jewelry, fashion hardware, or high-mix/low-volume, or on-demand production, and experience in onboarding and scaling third-party manufacturing partners is a plus!
